健康英语新闻:Woman attacked by chimp has new transplanted face

BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- A Connecticut woman who was savagely attacked by a pet chimpanzee and had her face deformed in 2009 was shown on TV with a new face Thursday.

TV pictures revealed Charla Nash’s new nose, lips and eyelid, which were transplanted in May by doctors at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Nash said to the viewers that she can move her mouth, smile and smell. Her daughter Brianna added that her mother can even talk and eat better now.

Dr. Bohdan Pomanhac led a 30-member surgical team to complete the face transplant in 20 hours. The team also transplanted two hands but these were later removed due to blood flow problem when Nash suffered pneumonia.

Nash’s friend Sandra Herold owned a 15-year-old chimpanzee named Travis that attacked without any provocation when Nash was visiting Herold.

Travis simply went berserk and could not be stopped even after Herold stabbed it with a kitchen knife. It would only let go of Nash after the police arrived and shot it dead.